4 year old boy shoots his babysitter with a shotgun

[ericyp]

Because he was mad at his babysitter for accidentally stepping on his foot!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090106/ap_on_re_us/young_shooter

JACKSON, Ohio – Police say an angry 4-year-old Ohio boy grabbed a gun from a closet and shot his baby sitter.
Eighteen-year-old Nathan Beavers was hospitalized Sunday with minor wounds to his arm and side after the shotgun attack. Police say another teen was also injured.
Witnesses told police the child was angry because Beavers accidentally stepped on his foot. Beavers was watching the child at a mobile home in Jackson with several other teenagers and several other children.
Jackson County Sheriff John Shashteen says authorities are investigating. The child has not been charged.

A few months ago there was also the 8 year old boy who shot and killed his father and father's friend.
Maybe these recent shootings are the result of poor parenting. Failure to secure guns from small kids? Or a culture that has largely switched to using avoidance to deal with mature topics and kids. Tragic in any case.

 

[BADUNAME37]

Without reading the article,

I have to wonder several things. How does the 4-year old even know how to load a shotgun? If they do know, and if they shoot it, then why was the shotgun not secured from the kid(s)?

In a case like this, IMHO, the parents are more at fault than the young boy!

 

[Maelstrom]

Of course if it came to pass that it was actually the teenagers screwing around with the shotgun I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[distra]

How does the 4-year old even know how to load a shotgun? If they do know, and if they shoot it, then why was the shotgun not secured from the kid(s)?

NEVER under estimate the ability of a 4yr old. They are driven little beasts that can figure out how things work pretty quickly. My 3.5yr son has seen mom and dad at the range shooting skeet and easily knows how to load a shotgun especially if the action is left open. You are absolutely correct in your second statement, that shotgun should have been secured from the "kids" (teens included). Maelstrom, you may be on to something here.

 

[Titan6]

That must have been a really small shotgun. There is no way my kids at four could have managed that with one of my shotguns. I am willing to bet there is whole lot more to this story than what is reported.

 

[dbarile]

Maybe he was just big for his age?

 

[UnclePete]

Of course if it came to pass that it was actually the teenagers screwing around with the shotgun I wouldn't be surprised.

Maelstrom is sure to be right. Teenager fooling with shotgun, a handy kid to blame when the gun goes bang.

 

[Norinco982lover]

There is no way my 4 year old sister could pump the slide on my norinco shotgun. (much less hold it up and pull the trigger). I would hazard to guess that the gun was loaded for whatever reason...and who knows what happened after that.

 

[Kilgor]

Beavers was watching the child at a mobile home...

Interesting that they make it a point to tell the reader it's a "mobile" home. Definitely playing to the redneck/white trash stereotype the media likes to portray of gun owners.

I imagine the shotgun was already loaded.

Keep anything dangerous (poisons, lighters, guns, pills) away from children until they are old enough to act correctly.

 

[regal]

Interesting that they make it a point to tell the reader it's a "mobile" home. Definitely playing to the redneck/white trash stereotype the media likes to portray of gun owners.

As a mobile home owner with a degree in engineering and a better job than most I guess I take offense to this statement. Fact is not everyone likes to like in suburbian paper mansions and not everyone associates "mobile home"with white trash either.

Fact I could go into a 1000 different rooms, each with a loaded shotgun and a 4 year old and not be shot once. The odds are that the teenagers did this. Hopefully the police will get to the bottom of it.

 

[hso]

Florida is dotted with "trailer parks" that don't mean "white trash", so the assumed slight may not actually exist.

 

[Kilgor]

I didn't mean to offend. I apologize. I found it interesting that they found it necessary to specify that it was a mobile home. You make you own decisions on why they might have done that.

I lived in a mobile home until I was 6 and have good memories of the place. I wouldn't buy one of my own though, mainly because they lose value whereas a traditional stick and brick house gains value (over time). There's also the additional risks in a tornado they present.

 

[hso]

Not making any assumptions that the story is incorrect, the thing to take away from this is that little kids can access guns if they're available and can use them with tragic results.

The story doesn't say if the gun was a pump or if it was loaded. It doesn't say if it was a 410 or a 10. It just says the kid shot the teen with a shotgun and the teen was treated for minor wounds. The simplest assumption for a 4 year old shooting someone with a shotgun is that the gun was loaded and that it wasn't a pump or semi. A simple single shot left loaded and unsecured would fit the story.

 

[Walkalong]

Yep, a moron around somewhere. Leaving loaded guns out where kids can get into them. Why don't they just leave rat poison out for them, or a butcher knife? Just the same, just as stupid.

 

[twoclones]

My two suspicions are that
1. the teens found the gun and concocted the story to cover up their accidental shooting and
2. none of these kids were introduced to guns by their parents and taught safe gun handling practices.

 

[transalpian]

The gun in question was a single shot 20 ga. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the 4 year old loaded the gun before the shooting. As above, the ability to load a gun is not an uncommon bit of knowledge in that part of the world. Securing the gun would have probably helped, as then the kid would have had to find the key first.

Link to story

 

[DeathByCactus]

Child's parents should be charged. I'd say charge the 4 year old too. If he is gonna start shooting people now, why wait till he grows up. Give him a head start in legal problems.

 

[JImbothefiveth]

The gun in question was a single shot 20 ga.

I'd imagine a 4 year old would not be able to fire a single shot 20 gauge, without at least getting knocked down. It would have at least the recoil of a 30-30, probably more.

 

[SsevenN]

Jimbo read the story in the link.

It is quite apparent this child can, and has shot a single shot 20ga before.

Given the fact there were multiple witness's, and the father verified the child's ability to operate the weapon, chances stand he was the shooter.

 

[Justin]

The main lesson here, of course, is to keep weapons locked up and unavailable to those who shouldn't have access to them, such as toddlers or teenagers.

Otherwise, there's really nothing all that illuminating to come out of this discussion.